Home heating bills make up a large part of the average Lincoln, IL resident’s yearly energy budget. It’s no surprise, then, that so many homeowners are looking for ways to save money on heating. For those with oil-powered furnaces, this inevitably leads to the same question. Is it possible to burn waste oil in a furnace?
It’s a tempting idea. After all, waste oil is plentiful, cheap, and easy to come by. It seems like the perfect candidate as a substitute for home heating oil. Unfortunately, there are various reasons why it’s a bad idea. Here’s everything you need to know, courtesy of the experts at Quick Comfort.
The Difference Between Heating Oil and Waste Oil
To start with, the first thing to understand is that not every substance called oil is the same. Home heating oil, for example, is more like diesel fuel than motor oil. For one thing, it’s much thinner than oils used for lubrication. That’s a big deal. If you were to use any other oil than home heating oil in your furnace, you’d clog your burners and other components in a hurry.
The other difference is that waste oil has contaminants in it. After seeing use for its original purpose, most waste oil contains hazardous substances that your furnace can’t remove. That means burning it in a conventional home heating furnace would release those chemicals into the air instead. Obviously, that’s not ideal.
Waste Oil Heaters
There are some furnaces built to burn waste oil, however. They’re called waste oil heaters. You won’t find them in homes for all of the reasons detailed above. They’re mostly used in places that collect waste oil, where the amount of waste oil collected makes the expense of buying a specialized waste oil heater worth the investment. Car dealerships, machine shops, and agricultural facilities often use them as a cheap source of heat and an effective means of waste oil disposal. It’s important to note, however, that such facilities must comply with environmental regulations that your home does not.
Upgrade Your Heating System
It’s worth noting that there’s a much better way to save on your heating costs than turning to waste oil. You can instead replace your home’s oil-burning furnace with a more efficient system. Quick Comfort carries a complete selection of the latest home heating technology, including heat pumps. Upgrading to a new system can help you manage your home’s heating costs while keeping you in complete comfort all winter long.
Besides being experts at the maintenance and repair of any home heating system, we also offer duct cleaning and indoor air quality services. Contact Quick Comfort today to learn more about a new, efficient heating system for your Lincoln home.
